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Sound Off to the Editor

To the editor,

Too many people in Brooklyn, especially in Bay Ridge, take the service of police officers for granted. As I commute to different places throughout the day I hear many people talking negatively about our cops.

In my opinion people should be aware of the fact that these people risk their lives everyday to make the streets of Brooklyn safe. More events should be organized to show appreciation for our law enforcers, and to make people cognizant of the service they provide everyday to make our lives safe. Eugene Tsarytsenko

The writer is in the 11th grade at Sinai Academy in Bensonhurst.

‘Dumbfounded’ DOT

To the editor,

I cannot believe how long this debacle at the Gowanus-Belt merge has gone on. Numerous times I have been cut off at the last second by cars, through no fault of their own, finally realizing where to be to exit for the Belt. The signage is basically non-existent until the immediate point of the exit. Before that is some worn out slop painted on the road itself as to where you should be for the Belt exit.

I cannot believe there have not been more accidents at this site. Where is the hypocritical Department of Transportation with its Vision Zero? Oh, that’s right, if it doesn’t concern bicycles or ways of causing more traffic congestion they are really dumbfounded, but more dumb than founded.

This project or whatever they are trying to achieve at this spot was supposed to have been completed by the end of August. Richie Hecht

Bay Ridge

• • •

To the editor,

All along Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay there is an island in the middle dividing the street, with cars parked along both sides, making it impossible for drivers to see cars in the opposite lane.

This is why they have left turning signals at all the major intersections down that strip, with the exception of Nostrand Avenue. This is why a woman was killed there recently while attempting to make a left turn.

Had the city done the right thing, she would be spending this Christmas with her family, instead of at the cemetery.Andrew Feinstein

Sheepshead Bay

Road hogs

To the editor,

The road under the el for the D train on 86th Street, from New Utrecht Avenue to Stillwell Avenue, is dangerous for a couple reasons. Many drivers are in a hurry and do not understand patience. When a bus is in the stop, numerous drivers go over the double yellow line to pass the bus. I’ve seen cars and trucks, and even a few buses, do this. They do not care if there is oncoming traffic. They just refuse to wait. Something needs to be done about this.

I was waiting for a B1 bus at Bay Parkway and 86th Street and saw signs at many pillars and above the street indicating that there is no left turn anywhere at that intersection. Between 1:20-1:30 pm I saw no less than 15 cars that made left turns, causing traffic jams. This is also an easy way for any pedestrian getting run over. Something desperately needs to be done about this also. The city would collect a mint, if cops went after drivers going around buses.

Ronald Cohen

Gravesend

Terror in the USA

To the editor,

President Obama is finally starting to talk tough about the terrorism striking our shores. Yet with all the bluster nothing definitive is being done to end the scourge and send Islamic terrorists to their rightful end in the rubble from which they sprang. The hot-air cloud hanging over Capitol Hill is truly causing regional warming.

I guess we will have to wait for a radical change to our government to bring America’s prestige and strength back to pre-Obama-levels. Then we will put political correctness aside and deal with these groups, much like we did with Japan and Germany all too many years ago.Robert W. Lobenstein

Marine Park

• • •

To the editor,

I am as sickened as everybody else about the devastation in Paris, but I do not agree with those of us who would close our borders to Syrian immigrants and destroy cities abroad that are now safe havens for terrorists. Destroying those cities and killing thousands of innocent people in the process would make us as evil as they are.

Innocent Muslims, refugees and their hungry, frightened children must not suffer just because a few killers may try to sneak into the country with them. We and our allies do need to screen potential immigrants from Syria, but we also need to help them find homes, not turn them away to starve.

Rather than creating violence and revenge, we need to improve our security and screening methods so that we can detect potential terrorists before they strike. I still don’t understand how a bunch of terrorists were able to get into our country in the 1990s, go to Florida, take flying lessons while being undetected for years, and in fly planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001. We need vigilance, not vengeance. Vengeance always kills innocent people and spurs further violence.

The 74th anniversary of Pearl Harbor just passed, and I would like to urge us not to do what President Roosevelt did, imprisoning hundreds of loyal and innocent Japanese-American citizens in internment centers for the duration of the war, making innocent families suffer and depriving our country of the services many of these citizens would willingly have given. Let’s never again do this to any race or religion, including innocent and loyal Muslims. What we need is vigilance, not revenge.Elaine Kirsch

Gravesend

Shun guns

To the editor,

The loss of life in the Paris attacks was a tragedy. Then the recent killings in California. How about the young women shot dead on national television? Now all the crazies are coming out of the woodwork saying everyone should carry a gun. So at what age should they be given out? To preschoolers?

Quite a number of years ago I attended the civilian police academy, in which we experienced a simulated shooting. To be honest of all of us shot the wrong person on the computer screen, in what was a minor incident compared to what cops go through.

A few years ago there was a shooting near the Empire State Building. When the cops pulled their guns a few bystanders were hit by bullets ricochetting off buildings. Luckily no bystander died.

So before you arm everyone, think about the second or two a cop has before he or she decides to use a gun. Cops are trained, unlike loose-cannon civilians who will fire and most likely kill innocent victims because they think they know what’s best for society. Jerry Sattler

Brighton Beach

‘Sound Off’ great!

To the editor,

Surveys reveal that the “letters to the editor” section is one of the most widely read and popular of any newspaper. Weekly newspapers, such as this one, offer readers a chance to speak out. It helps to have a snappy introduction, good hook, be timely, precise, and have an interesting or different viewpoint to increase your odds of being published. Many papers welcome letters commenting on their own editorials, articles or previously published letters to the editor.

We continue to be fortunate to live in one of the few remaining free societies with a wealth of information sources available. Sadly most American cities and suburbs are down to one local daily or weekly newspaper. Newspapers have to deal with increasing costs, reduced advertising revenues, and declining readership. I continue to be grateful that the Courier affords its readers the opportunity to express their views and differing opinions on issues of the day. Thanks to you ordinary citizens have the freedom to comment on the actions and legislation of elected officials and more.

In the marketplace of ideas let us hope there continues to be room for all newspapers, and let us thank those few brave souls who are willing to take on the establishment and powerful special interest groups in “Sound Off to the Editor.” They fill a valuable niche on the information highway.

Please join me along with your neighbors in reading your favorite daily and local weekly community newspapers. Patronize their advertisers; they provide the revenues necessary to keep them in business. Let them know you saw their advertisement. This is what helps keep our neighbors employed, the local economy growing, and provides space on a daily and weekly basis for your favorite or not-so-favorite letter writers.Larry Penner

Great Neck, New York

•••

To the editor,

While I agree with President Obama that guns should not be in the hands of people on restricted flying lists, I take exception to his statement that the Islamic State began to evolve several years ago. If this were the case, why did he say last year that he didn’t have a plan to deal with them?

Ed Greenspan

Sheepshead Bay

Save the elephants

To the editor,

I am generally a supporter of the National Rifle Association, but I find poachers and trophy hunters, whom the organization supports, reprehensible. I can understand killing certain animals for food, or killing bears and raccoons who over populate or invade people’s homes, but this is not the case with the African nor Asian elephants, which cannot be cross bred.

It is high time this cruel practice ceases to exist and we allow the species to reproduce by not invading its natural habitats. If we continue our ways, both species of elephants will soon be extinct and a distant memory.

The elephant used to be a symbol of Republicans and the political right, which embrace and endorse hunters, whether it is justified or not. It will now take the political left to save the noble elephant.

Elliott Abosh

Brighton Beach

Frankly, Jerome

To the editor,

Jerome Frank seems to think I favor the upper one percent of Americans that achieved their wealth through hard work and a drive to do better (“Income inequality,” Sound off to the Editor, Oct. 16).

Maybe in his case, his attitude and the attitude of so many people who bemoan the fact that they are not rich are self-repressing them to the lower rungs of society.

My family emigrated from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and other European states prior to 1900. Nothing was handed to them on a silver platter. They knew that to succeed in the new land, they had to learn its language and get together, getting their hands dirty, to scratch a living out of whatever they chose to do.

I pride myself, in some little way, on championing the rights of the workers, as I once was a vice president in a local union. During my tenure I learned a lot of the so-called one percent versus the 99 percenters. I saw how the different attitudes of the workers determined how far they progressed or regressed through the ranks. Those individuals with a sense of drive and determination climbed the ladder of success, ultimately leaving the ranks for management positions. Those with an attitude, a socialist-communist attitude of I-deserve-everything, were always in trouble with the boss, calling upon me and others in the union to help bail them out.

I invite Jerome to learn the true history of his favored socialist parties and understand that even with them, there was an upper one-percent-plus crust of political hacks enjoying a very good living while the people, under their tutelage, were the true working “slaves of the state.”

Capitalism ain’t perfect, but at least under its reign and our hard-fought-for-and-won American freedoms, one has a chance to stand up, excel, and achieve a higher income and attitude status.

Robert W. Lobenstein

Marine Park

On track

To the editor,

I whole-heartedly agree that express service should be restored to the F train in Brooklyn. I was able to enjoy the benefits of express service until I retired in 2003. However there was, and still is, another problem with F service, and probably with other trains going to and from Coney Island as well. Many trains terminate at Kings Highway, five stations away from the last stop in Coney Island. Passengers going further have to wait on the elevated platform in boiling hot or freezing cold weather until another train arrives.

I understand the need to avoid congestion at the Coney Island station. What I don’t understand is why they can’t get the arriving trains out of the station at the last stop as soon as they unload, either by sending them right back to Manhattan or to the train yard. I would rather wait five minutes on a heated or air-conditioned train while other trains are being cleared out of Coney Island than to be forced to leave my train and stand on a snow-covered platform shivering until another train comes in. Winter is here! It’s time to take all trains to the last stop.

All stations are used by senior citizens and people with disabilities, at one time or another. All stations need elevators or escalators. Many stations need repair work, especially on stairways at elevated stations. Fares keep going up, but transportation services and stairways do not get any better. Many seniors who need elevators cannot use the subways in their neighborhoods. They are forced to use Access-A-Ride.

The city would save money in the long run, if it spent more on making subways accessible to seniors and other physically-challenged, would-be passengers, and would improve the service on city buses. Then fewer people would need to use Access-A-Rides.

Elaine Kirsch

Gravesend

Peace not war

To the editor,

After all the human lives taken by the Islamic State, I decided I needed to see something positive that would cheer me up — like watching “Woodstock” the movie. The 1969 concert was one of the greatest, non-violent gatherings ever and young people spent three days through heavy thunderstorms to listen to music.

The original crowd was 250,000, but swelled to 500,000, making it a totally free concert. Many were against the Vietnam War and tired of learning of the killing of civilians. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? How a large group of people all coming from different backgrounds united in peace is a lesson worth reminding ourselves again.

Solomon Rafelowsky

Brighton Beach

Two-fare drone

To the editor,

The proposal by state Sen. Marty Golden (R-Bay Ridge) to offer two free transfers for those who have to ride two buses before boarding a subway is wishful thinking. People who moved to Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach and Gravesend — areas represented by Golden — knew full well that they would be living in a two-fare (bus to subway) and sometimes three-fare (bus to bus to subway) zone with longer commutes to and from work.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority services continue to be one of the best bargains in town. Since the 1950s, the average cost of riding either the bus, subway or commuter rail has gone up at a lower rate than either the consumer price index or inflation. The MetroCard, introduced in 1996, affords a free transfer between bus and subway. Prior to this, riders had to pay two full fares. Purchasing either a weekly or monthly pass further reduces the cost per ride. Many employers offer transit checks, which pay even more of the costs.

For years, local politicians would stir the pot on this issue. Now the latest cause is the cost for those handful of people out of several million daily riders who have to pay two fares versus one. An overwhelming majority can afford and already purchase either a weekly or monthly unlimited MetroCard, which makes the “double fare” issue moot.

Residents, taxpayers, and commuters in Golden’s district would be better off if he worried more about how the State Legislature will find the $8 billion Gov. Cuomo promised to bridge the $8.3 billion shortfall in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority-proposed $28 billion, five-year capital plan when they reconvene in January.

It all comes down to the availability of increased funding for additional transportation service to serve residents of two fare zones in the outer boroughs. Operating subsidies are required to increase the level of service and reduce the amount of time one waits for a bus on existing routes. Same for adding more off-peak, late night and weekend service.

Larry Penner

Great Neck, N.Y.

Tarnished Silver

To the editor,

First Shelly, then Skelos, then others. So our dear New York State democratic leader, Shelly Silver, has been convicted on all counts of bribery and other misdeeds of directing clients’ money to his own pockets. Shelly lamented in his defense that it is standard practice by all legislators in Albany to do what he did.

A few months ago the State Senate refused to fund an expansion of jails. It was sad to hear that, as the good citizens of New York are eagerly waiting to hear about the next round of indictments and convictions of crooked politicians who infest Albany. Their next stop should be a few years in this fine state’s overcrowded jails.

Robert W. Lobenstein

Marine Park

*****ED GREENSPAN LETTERS****

Mitt’s a hit

To the editor,

Given the current crop of Republican presidential candidates for 2016, a new “three Rs” should be in vogue — “Run, Romney, Run.” Millions of voters now realize the mistake that was made in 2012, and many will cross party lines and vote for him. Why not? Richard Nixon came back from defeat in 1960 to win the presidency in 1968.

Ed Greenspan

Sheepshead Bay

Classroom trenches

To the editor,

As Warner Wolfe used to say, “Let’s Go to the Videotape,” when he would want something investigated further. Similarly let’s go to the school records of violent criminals, or better yet, do something with them in their formative years so that they don’t resort to such violence. If you opened the school records, you would see evidence of cutting class, constantly disrupting the class, roaming through the hallways, cursing, screaming, fighting, and causing all sorts of mayhem.

The city’s school system has failed these students and others by their complete refusal to deal with disruptive youth. As a result, the latter become more emboldened with each passing year, and their deviant behavior worsens until an innocent life is lost.

We keep such students in regular classes if the parent refuses to sign for special placement. As a result, chaos results as teachers desperately try to keep order with burgeoning class sizes. When are we going to face this problem head on and not keep sweeping it under the rug? This is not a racist problem. Disruptive pupils come in all races, religions and all backgrounds.

Empty out the regional and district offices and get teachers back in the classroom. We need more psychologists and psychiatrists in the schools. Less suspensions will not solve anything.

So-called staff development is a complete joke and everyone knows it. Let all the militants, ultra liberals and critics of teachers get themselves teacher licenses and get a taste of what it is like in the trenches.

Ed Greenspan

Sheepshead Bay